The hash()
function is an important part of how Immutable determines if
two values are equivalent and is used to determine how to store those
values. Provided with any value, hash()
will return a 31-bit integer.
hash(value: unknown): number
When designing Objects which may be equal, it's important that when a
.equals()
method returns true, that both values .hashCode()
method
return the same value. hash()
may be used to produce those values.
For non-Immutable Objects that do not provide a .hashCode()
functions
(including plain Objects, plain Arrays, Date objects, etc), a unique hash
value will be created for each instance. That is, the create hash
represents referential equality, and not value equality for Objects. This
ensures that if that Object is mutated over time that its hash code will
remain consistent, allowing Objects to be used as keys and values in
Immutable.js collections.
Note that hash()
attempts to balance between speed and avoiding
collisions, however it makes no attempt to produce secure hashes.
New in Version 4.0